Crying question

[groovymcawesome]

Have two mutt puppies. 14 weeks. Got them housebroken. Doing good on everything but the crying.

In the morning, my alarm goes off at 5am. As soon as the boy hears my alarm hey starts screaming to be let out of his crate. I take my time getting ready and get downstairs to let him out at about 530.

When I go downstairs, I don't want to open the crate while he's still howling, because that will teach him to just howl when he wants out, right? But he'll continue screaming until I let him out. He doesn't give up.

How do I go about breaking this, because when I say he's screaming, he SCREAMS. The neighbors must think i'm stabbing him. His sister's fine though. Doesn't make a sound.

Is this something that he'll outgrow or do I need to be extremely proactive?

Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Renee750il]

If he knows sit, try giving him that command before you let him out. Once you get a pup distracted with something like that they tend to stop the crying. Then you can let him out, and you've begun to teach him that being obedient gets him what he wants.

 

[smkie]

I think every dog is different, like every child..maybe he has been good as long as he possibly can. He might have been waiting for hours before you woke up. What if you let him out, let him void his bladder, then had him on a leash to sit and stay while you get ready. That way if he is desperate to go...he has had that oportunity and then you will be "teaching" him how to be calm and to wait. I know Victor in the bieginning woke up at 6 am without fail..and the first thing he had to do, and badly at that..was void his bladder. I think he would have howled too if i had made him wait while I got ready. His need was a grab a coat and go outside, I don't have a fence so I have to take him out on a leash,. I was able to teach him the command hike this way and we are only out there for a few seconds. Then he would even let me go back to sleep for a couple of hours if I wanted to.

 

[Sakasha]

I had this same problem with Dutch when I brought him home. The only difference in our situations is that Dutch and I sleep in the same room. He has severe seperation anxiety, and this was the only way I could keep him from literaly attempting to claw his way out of the crate at night.

When I first got him home, heaven-forbid I left the room for even one minute, he would scream like a banshee. The trick with him was that I wouldn't even re-enter the room while he was making noise. It was tiring a first, waiting on the other side of a door untill he took a breath. He eventually picked up on the fact that he got my attention only when he was quiet though. I also carried small treats around with me, and gave him one when he was being good in the crate.

By comming into the room while he is still crying, you are reinforcing his crying. He thinks he has gotten your attention. Wait silently until he stops - even just for a second. As soon as there is even the smallest break in his crying, come into the room. It will probably take quite a bit of repetition, but he should pick up on the fact that you only come to him when he is quiet.

I'm not sure if this is the most effective way to banish crate crying/whining, but it definetly worked for me, so it might be worth a try. CreatureTeacher may be able to give you more advice. It takes a lot of patience, but hopefully you will see progress. Good luck!